Emory, thats a good quote.
Are Catholics Christians? Depends on who you ask. I was raised in a non sacramental church and as far as I could observe, none of the people there thought so, especially the minister 'Brother Grahm'. We were told all Catholics needed "to be born again and saved" (and pious prayers).
Those who grew up as Evangelical protestants were told that unlike Orthodox or Roman Catholics, protestants worshipped God in spirit and truth. That is why they needed no Liturgy or 'empty rituals' to help them worship God. They did not need to study church history because their personal salvation histories were all that mattered. They did not need Holy Tradition because they had a direct personalized relationship with Jesus. If they felt spiritual, then they were. What they did or how they worshipped had nothing to do with salvation which was understood as a one time, almost magical occurrence, not a journey.
They believed in the Bible but not the Church. They did not need to confess to a priest (a guilty sob in a pillow will suffice), to celebrate the Eucharist, let alone light a candle, venerate an icon or say a written prayer. They were free of such neo-pagan superstitions. In place of the Liturgy, their services were more like endless weekly Bible Studies and always finalized with an altar call (minus an altar and Eucharist) in hopes someone would walk down and get saved (the closest thing they had to a sacrament). The minister read whatever passage that 'the Spirit laid on his heart' rather than follow the universal Church Calendar "like the Catholics do" (because of the Pope and all that).
How other Christians had done things for millennia or what they had believed or how they had come to believe was no concern of theirs. They needed no interpretation except for their own deciphering the meaning of the Scriptures.
No Bishop, apostolic or otherwise, had any special authority over them regarding the true meaning of Scripture. No Father of the Church or Council had any special wisdom they should hearken. They believed true Christianity was like the rest of life in our pluralistic, free society--up to the individual, a personal choice, a question of individual "leading".
Their Christianity was in fact, whatever they wanted it to be (although they didn't like to admit it). They said what they believed was Biblical and it often turned out that the Bible said anything they wanted it to say. They rejected any idea that the Holy Spirit had lead The Church although they readily claimed the Spirit's leading on a personal subjective level which was proof they were "doing the Lord's Will" in matters personal. If they disagreed with the teaching of one denomination or minister, they would shop for a new "church" until they found one they liked.
They always prayed in the same repetitive way (Dear Heavenly Father, we just this, we just that...) Who needs written prayers?
Last I heard (my sister ran into one of them and that subject actually came up) they still didn't consider Catholics Christian. My deceased mother in law (Catholic) used to run into Baptists who tried to 'save' her several times so I don't think they considered her Christian either.
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